Last Wednesday afternoon I called Michael Brutsch. He was at the office of the Texas financial services company where he works as a programmer and he was having a bad day. I had just told him, on Gchat, that I had uncovered his identity as the notorious internet troll Violentacrez (pronounced Violent-Acres).

"It's amazing how much you can sweat in a 60 degree office," he said with a nervous laugh.

Judging from his internet footprint, Brutsch, 49, has a lot to sweat over. If you are capable of being offended, Brutsch has almost certainly done something that would offend you, then did his best to rub your face in it. His speciality is distributing images of scantily-clad underage girls, but as Violentacrez he also issued an unending fountain of racism, porn, gore, misogyny, incest, and exotic abominations yet unnamed, all on the sprawling online community Reddit. At the time I called Brutsch, his latest project was moderating a new section of Reddit where users posted covert photos they had taken of women in public, usually close-ups of their asses or breasts, for a voyeuristic sexual thrill. It was called "Creepshots." Now Brutsch was the one feeling exposed and it didn't suit him very well.

But Michael Brutsch is more than a monster. Online, Violentacrez has been one of Reddit's most reviled characters but also one of its most beloved users. The self-described "creepy uncle of Reddit" has played a little-known but crucial role in Reddit's development into the online juggernaut it is today. In real life, Brutsch is a military father and cat-lover. He lives with his wife in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. There are many sides to Violentacrez, and now that I had Michael Brutsch on the phone I hoped to find out where the troll ended and the real person began.

Continues in TFA... quite the fascinating read._________________There is no god but Bach, Beethoven is the messenger of Bach.

Is there a section describing how he uncovered him? I've never heard of the guy, and don't care about him, but the "uncovering" part might be interesting._________________lolgov. 'cause where we're going, you don't have civil liberties.

Unfortunately, I've never been good at keeping secrets. My poker face is so bad it can be read even through a computer screen, apparently. In our Gchat, I pressed Violentacrez about his anonymity enough that he grew suspicious. We were chatting about why he feels comfortable attending IRL meet-ups of Redditors if his anonymity was so important to him when he caught on.

Quote:

me: it seems like you're not super careful about keeping your identity under wraps, if you meet people in real life. A lot of trolls I've talked to would never do that or give out as many details about themselves as they do.

violentacrez: have you been given my real name?

me: yeah

violentacrez: that's not good

me: it seems like you've told a lot of people. Are you surprised it would get out?

violentacrez: yes, I thought I could trust those who know. Are you going to out me?

Panicking a bit, I quickly picked up the phone and dialed the number I had found on Brutsch's online resume so I could hear Brutsch's voice to see if it matched Violentacrez. It did.

"So, are you going to out me?" he said.

_________________There is no god but Bach, Beethoven is the messenger of Bach.

He lives in the wrong area. California is the pr0n capital of the world. He seems the type to fit naturally into the valley._________________There is no god but Bach, Beethoven is the messenger of Bach.

His current wife is similarly accepting of Brutsch's unsavory side, according to Brutsch. She is not only aware of his online habits, she's also a prolific Redditor under the handle not_so_violentacrez. She is a founder of the Fibromyalgia subreddit. She has diabetes and plays the online game Kingdom of Camelot. Violentacrez said that at home, the two would lie in bed together with their laptops, both on Reddit, him posting his porn, she posting cute animal videos and pictures of dolphins.

family idyll_________________If English was good enough for Jesus, then it's good enough for you!

His current wife is similarly accepting of Brutsch's unsavory side, according to Brutsch. She is not only aware of his online habits, she's also a prolific Redditor under the handle not_so_violentacrez. She is a founder of the Fibromyalgia subreddit. She has diabetes and plays the online game Kingdom of Camelot. Violentacrez said that at home, the two would lie in bed together with their laptops, both on Reddit, him posting his porn, she posting cute animal videos and pictures of dolphins.

family idyll

it is a sign of a healthy relationship if a couple shares their hobbies._________________

AidanJT wrote:

Libertardian denial of reality is wholly unimpressive and unconvincing, and simply serves to demonstrate what a bunch of delusional fools they all are.

I liked that movie. It was unusual in that, for the first third or half, I was thinking, "Wow, this pretty much blows.", and then, when they finally encountered a troll, I was like, "This is fucking cool!"._________________Deja Moo: the feeling that you've heard this bull before

I liked that movie. It was unusual in that, for the first third or half, I was thinking, "Wow, this pretty much blows.", and then, when they finally encountered a troll, I was like, "This is fucking cool!".

I bought the DVD and watched it in Norwegian with subtitles. I was between 'wtf' 'awesome' and 'lol' the whole time._________________

AidanJT wrote:

Libertardian denial of reality is wholly unimpressive and unconvincing, and simply serves to demonstrate what a bunch of delusional fools they all are.

I liked that movie. It was unusual in that, for the first third or half, I was thinking, "Wow, this pretty much blows.", and then, when they finally encountered a troll, I was like, "This is fucking cool!".

I bought the DVD and watched it in Norwegian with subtitles. I was between 'wtf' 'awesome' and 'lol' the whole time.

I watched it with subtitles too. I hate dubbed vocals, and I want to hear the original actors' voices._________________Deja Moo: the feeling that you've heard this bull before

I liked that movie. It was unusual in that, for the first third or half, I was thinking, "Wow, this pretty much blows.", and then, when they finally encountered a troll, I was like, "This is fucking cool!".

I bought the DVD and watched it in Norwegian with subtitles. I was between 'wtf' 'awesome' and 'lol' the whole time.

I watched it with subtitles too. I hate dubbed vocals, and I want to hear the original actors' voices.

/me too. That is how I learned english _________________

AidanJT wrote:

Libertardian denial of reality is wholly unimpressive and unconvincing, and simply serves to demonstrate what a bunch of delusional fools they all are.

I think less of the outer than the outed. Completely separate from whether or not the outed should be investigated for criminal activity. I'm guessing his career is going to be impaired._________________lolgov. 'cause where we're going, you don't have civil liberties.

I think less of the outer than the outed. Completely separate from whether or not the outed should be investigated for criminal activity. I'm guessing his career is going to be impaired.

how about the 'outer' - shouldn't that asshole be prosecuted?

Prosecuted nothing. What if the yahoos on 4chan lemming their way into sympathizing with violentacrez and decide to go Banzai on the outer's smug, self-congratulatory ass? _________________Deja Moo: the feeling that you've heard this bull before